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User blog:Porfirio 739/Triceratops Is My Favorite Animal
Triceratops is my favorite animal. Triceratops is one of the few dinosaurs that hardly need a description.‭ ‬Like with other large ceratopsian dinosaurs it was a quadrupedal‭ (‬four legged‭) ‬herbivore that had a proportionately large skull in relation to its total body size,‭ ‬just under a third of the total length.‭ ‬The skull was adorned with a short neck frill that rose up from the back,‭ ‬and three horns.‭ ‬The largest horns were the two that rose up from above the eyes and reached up to one meter long,‭ ‬while the nasal horn that pointed up from the snout was much smaller.‭ ‬Some specimens of Triceratops sometimes have epoccipitals‭ (‬small pointed bones‭) ‬that are attached to the edge of the frill.‭ ‬Triceratops was once classed as a centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur because of this small frill,‭ ‬but today it is considered to be a‭ ‬chasmosaurine‭ (‬often alternatively referred to as ceratopsine‭) ‬on the basis of the well-developed brow horns that are usually greatly reduced or absent in centrosaurines.‭ ‬The frill itself is still interesting because its short and solid which makes it very different from other known genera that usually have long frills with holes in them.‭ ‬However this feature may yet have greater ramifications for Triceratops and some other ceratopsian dinosaur genera‭ (‬click to skip down to this‭)‬. Like with other ceratopsian dinosaurs there has been some confusion as to how Triceratops stood and walked.‭ ‬Earlier reconstructions took into account the large skulls with the idea that the fore legs would have to sprawl out to the sides to support the bulk.‭ ‬Track ways suggested different however,‭ ‬that the fore legs were not sprawled which led to the question of‭ ‘‬did Triceratops have sprawling or upright legs‭?’‬.‭ ‬The simple answer is a little of both as modern reconstructions including computer modelling have revealed that the fore legs were upright but with the elbows bowed out to the sides. Another interesting feature is the way the fore feet‭ (‬equivalent to your hands‭) ‬rested on the ground.‭ ‬Unlike thereophorans‭ (‬stegosaurs and ankylosaurs‭) ‬and sauropods‭ (‬quadrupedal long necked dinosaurs‭) ‬the fingers pointed out to the sides rather than facing forwards.‭ ‬Although a primitive trait this actually reveals that the direct ancestors of the large late Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaurs were actually bipedal‭ (‬walked upon two legs‭) ‬with their hands more for grasping and support rather than weight bearing. One of the most exciting discoveries associated with Triceratops is a skin impression which also reveals the presence of bristle like fibres.‭ ‬Although this may appear strange,‭ ‬especially to those who have grown up with images of Triceratops being a relatively smooth skinned creature,‭ ‬earlier ceratopsians are thought to have had bristle like extensions on areas like the tail.‭ ‬This has been confirmed by some fossils from China and is especially poignant considering that the popular consensus is that primitive ceratopsian dinosaurs first appeared here towards the end of the Jurassic period.‭ ‬If these bristle structures were indeed present upon Triceratops,‭ ‬then it‭’‬s also plausible that other ceratopsian dinosaur genera between it and the primitive forms may have also had them. Category:Blog posts Category:Ceratopsians Category:Ceratopsia